Ideas for wrapping up meetings

Recently, we shared some tips for starting meetings off on a good note (see here and here). In this post, we share some ideas for concluding meetings so that everyone leaves with a clear understanding of the meeting and are therefore ready to move forward with common goals.

Summarize task assignments. When meeting attendees spend time together making a number of decisions about a project or goal, it is a helpful idea to summarize the task assignments or action items that need to happen prior to the next meeting. Therefore, take time to have the meeting leader or individual meeting attendees summarize the open task assignments. This  can be a helpful reminder of the agreed-upon action items from a meeting.  Include this quick summary at the end of the meeting minutes or meeting notes as a clear outline of the meeting outcomes. 

Last call. Saving a few minutes for the end of a meeting as a “last call” is good practice.  This open call for questions, comments, or discussion points allows meeting attendees an opportunity to bring up any subjects that were not covered during the meeting time.  

In some cases, last call comments may not be addressed during the meeting in which they were introduced, but meeting leaders can include these topics as agenda items in the next meeting.  If this practice is adopted and becomes an expected part of a team’s culture, then meeting attendees may start to prepare and plan for this opportunity at the end of each meeting. 

What do you want people to remember? One of the best ways to get information across is to use a three step approach: 1) tell people what you are going to tell them, 2) actually tell them, and then 3) summarize what you just told them.  If a meeting is intended for information communication, it can be helpful to summarize what was just covered.  Preparing ahead of time with comments or notes about what you want people to remember is another good way to conclude time spent together while also leaving meeting attendees with something to reflect on. 

Ask for feedback. Asking meeting participants to share their feedback about the meeting itself can be helpful for gathering comments, perceptions, thoughts, and ideas that might not have come up during a meeting.  Meeting feedback can be gathered at the end of a meeting verbally, through the use of an online commenting or polling tool (e.g., Zoom chat or Slido), or in writing (e.g., one minute paper).  Any feedback that is gathered can be used to inform or improve the next meeting time. 

Finally, it should be noted that each of the techniques listed above can be adopted and implemented in face-to-face or virtual meetings depending on your group needs.